The Darkness From Within
by T.J. Ryan 94
Summary: Lucy Cullen was just an ordinary girl, but when she gets Marked she is forced to leave her old life and move to the London House of Night. Once there she discovers new friends, a new rival and a new love interest. Like a young vampyre before her, Lucy discovers she has mystical powers and she must use them to protect her new home but Darkness is set on luring her to away from Nyx
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Hey guys, I'm FINALLY writing a ****_House of Night _****fanfic! This is going to be an OCs story, with the Nerd Herd as fully grown vamps (but this isn't going to be a story about them, this will be about new characters and the awesome characters by PC and Kristin won't be appearing until MUCH LATER... Except for Nyx of course)**

**This chapter will introduce my OC Lucy and I will be accepting your OCs to add into this story, through PMs and the ones I like the best will be official characters in this story.**

**Here is the first chapter, let me know what you think.**

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**One:**

_Lucy_

This school is a shit hole, like mega shit hole that has had a bad case of the runs and now is officially stinking up the corridors with its smell. I walked down the corridor to my locker, brushing my long blonde hair behind my ear (I hate wearing it down and I really do prefer to tie it in a ponytail, but I woke up late and didn't have time to find any hair bands).

To make things worse, I felt like shit and I had been having coughing fits all day (but Dad wouldn't let me have a day off, even if my head was hanging off and I couldn't walk Dad would still say "You'll survive, now get yourself to school"). It was times like this that I wished Mum hadn't moved out because she was definitely the most easy going, but Dad was the most reliable father on this planet and I wouldn't change him for the world... but it would be nice to get a day off when I feel sick.

Speaking of said cough, I had another small fit as I rounded the corner into the corridor with my locker and it took a moment to get a control of it, I groaned in pain as a headache began throbbing in my temples. Jesus, I wasn't going to last the day without rolling over and dying, but luckily two more periods before school was over and I could curl up in bed and watch _Hunger Games._

I pulled open my locker and pulled my books out for the next class, glancing at the RADA poster on the inside of my locker. Ever since I was a kid, I had always dreamed about acting on the stage in London's West End and I can't imagine doing anything else. That's why I had decided that when I turned eighteen, I would apply for the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (the BEST drama school in London!).

My only problem was I lived on a council estate in Harrow with my single dad and older brother, so money was tight and I still had two years to save for college.

I smiled at the poster, before closing the door and turned, bumping into Katie as she ran down the corridor and I automatically caught her to stop her from falling.

Katie was a pretty mixed race girl (her dad was African-American and her mum was a white Irish woman, but she was born in England and is officially British) her brown skin complimenting her light brown eyes and her black hair fell in curls. Katie and I had been best friends since we were six, now nearly ten years later and we were still like sisters regardless of our skin colours.

I steadied Kate on her feet and frowned at her, knowing that she had either done someone she shouldn't have or had said something she shouldn't have and really pissed someone off. As well as being her best friend, I was also basically a mother and sister figure.

"What's up?" I asked her and I immediately became concerned as I saw her eyes filled with fresh tears "what happened, babe?"

"Reece, he dumped me!" Katie bawled and I automatically hugged her, but I wasn't surprised by this and was planning on kicking Reece's arse when I saw him. Reece was an annoyingly attractive blonde guy, that was basically a twat and a sexist pig! Katie and Reece have been on-and-off-dating and even though I had warned Katie not to go near Reece, she went and did it anyway.

"Katie, he's not worth this," I told her firmly, looking at her sympathetically and trying not to cry when I saw her heart breaking as tears fell down her eyes.

"I really loved him!" Katie cried even harder and I looked around awkwardly, Jenkins High School was a secondary school with a seriously uptight headmaster and I knew we would probably get suspended if he heard a hysterical teenager disrupted his quiet school. I took Katie's hand and pulled her into the deserted girl's toilet and handed her a tissue, which she loudly blew her nose on.

"God, I'm such an idiot!" Katie hissed bitterly "he dumped me the day after we had sex for the first time…"

My jaw dropped as I stared at my friend in shock. This was something she had definitely forgot to mention, how could she be so stupid?!

She lost her virginity to an arsehole like Reece?!

I turned and put my face in my hands, groaning in misery and shaking my head. Katie had always been so trusting, but I would never have thought she would be that naïve to lose her big V to a guy like Reece.

True, I was still a virgin and I definitely had no plans to change that status anytime soon (when I wasn't acting, I was curled up on my bed with a good teen romance novel where the heroine falls for an amazing sexy guy that has a heart of gold and is willing to wait until the time is right to make love to her… unfortunately, this was 2013 and guys like that were extinct).

I turned to Katie, crossing my arms over my chest to stop myself from strangling her and tried to stay calm. A cough suddenly rippled through my throat and I covered my mouth to stop my small coughing fit, trying to control myself. God, this was annoying… I must be getting a bug, but I seriously couldn't think about that now and once I was able to breathe I looked at Katie with sad eyes.

"Kate, why would you do something like that?" I asked quietly, tears brimming behind my eyes as I saw my broken friend give something so precious to a fucking arsehole.

"I thought he loved me! I wanted to prove how I felt about him!" Katie said in a whisper that was almost inaudible "and now he's just been calling me a slag to our whole form room…"

Anger boiled in my gut and I clenched my hands into fists, wanting nothing more than to punch the smirk off his face. No one calls my BBF a slut!

I marched out of the bathroom and headed to my form room, pulling my rucksack higher up my shoulder and stopping dead when I saw _him_.

The vamp stood at the far end of the, his black hood covering his face and the long cloak pooling at his feet on the floor. Even though I couldn't see his face, his physique was masculine and I realised with a jolt of horror who he was and what he was doing here.

Why was he looking at me? Okay, stupid question of the decade and I knew the answer which made my gut twinge with fear. He was a Tracker…

Run, run, RUN YOU CRAZY BITCH! My mind screamed, but my body froze as the Tracker lifted his hand and his voice deep voice rang clearly and powerfully through the deserted corridor:

_"Lucinda Cullen! Night has chosen thee, thy death will be thy birth. Night calls to thee, hearken to Her sweet voice. Your destiny awaits you at the House of Night!"_

Pain shot through my forhead and I screamed, tumbiling backwards and falling on my back on the floor with a loud thud.

I rubbed my forehead in pain, keeping my eyes firmly shot and trying to convince myself that what had just happened hadn't happen. It couldn't have happened!

A shrill scream rippled through the quiet corridor and I opened my eyes to see Katie crouching beside me, new tears falling down her face. I looked around quickly for the Tracker, but he had vanished and was nowhere in sight.

"LUCY! I-I THOUGHT YOU DIED!"

If I wasn't in killer pain, I would have rolled my eyes and come out with a sarcastic comment. Seriously, Katie isn't someone that can handle a crisis and she has been known to become a Hysterical Drama Queen. I allowed Katie to help me into a sitting position and tried to give her a reassuring smile, but my full attention was still focused on my painful forehead as I tried to rub the pain away

"I'm okay, really I'm not-" I began, but Katie gasped in panic when I pulled my hand away from my forehead and she saw my face. I didn't need to ask or look in the mirror, I already knew what was there and Katie's shock just confirmed what my fears were screaming at me with a big neon sign.

The outline of a crescent moon was now tattooed on my forehead and that only meant one thing…

I had been Marked.

Oh shit!

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**Author's Note: All right, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter and here's the OC Form that you guys need to fill in when you PM me your character suggestions:**

OC (Original Character) Form for _The Darkness From Within_

Name:

Age:

Gender:

Vampyre Fledging/Human/Raven Mocker:

Nationality (where are they from):

Appearance (be detailed):

Height and build:

Personality (be detailed):

Sexuality:

Current love interest/crush or current girlfriend/boyfriend:

Affinity (a power to control a certain element or a special skill in combat):

Red or Blue Vamp:

Important Family members or close friends:

Rivals/characters they have a strong hatred for and why:

Background:

Likes/Dislikes:

Any important information that you think could be useful in creating this OC:

**Thanks for reading and I look forward to reading your OCs! :)**

**Until the next chapter...**

**Merry Meet, Merry Part and Merry Meet Again! LOL (I know that's sad but I couldn't resist hahahahaha!)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

_Lucy_

I need to get out of here! Like, now!

I pulled myself to my feet and rushed to my locker, pulling it open and stuffed all my schoolbooks, pictures, posters and everything else in my rucksack and slammed it shut. Katie rushed beside me and looked at me in concern.

"So what are you going to do?" she asked in a panicked voice as I hurried to the school exit and burst through the double doors and into the car park "Lucy?"

I can't stay here," I told her as a cool breeze blew my hair away from my face and clouds were starting to cover the previously sunny sky "I'll call you later!"

I hurried down the street, pulling the hood on my hoodie up to cover my face and kept my eyes cast down while I tried to control my breathing and not freak out.

I knew what was happening to me, everyone knew what happened when a human gets Marked. I learned all about this in Biology Class when I was thirteen and the teacher explained all about a human's transition to fledging and hopefully a fully grown vampyre. There was something in certain teenagers that triggers the vampyre gene which happens during puberty and this causes the Change to begin. The Change was what a fledging went through to become an adult vampyre, this took four years to happen and it was either become a vamp or your body rejects the change and you die (unfortunately, no one knows for certain if you survive the Change and a fledging can die at any moment).

Okay, I'm either going to become a bloodsucking vampyre or die… fucking brilliant.

I sat on a bench and dialled my Dad's number, prying that he'll pick up and trying to keep the fearful tears from my eyes.

"Lu, I'm at work now," Dad said in a tiresome voice as soon as he answered "so this better be important."

I struggled to find my voice for a moment, how was I going to tell the one consistent person in my life that I had been Marked and now I was going to have to leave him and everything I knew to move into a House of Night, the closest one is in Central London and I didn't want to leave Dad or Jamie. I didn't want this! Too much was changing, as if my life wasn't as complicated already!

"Lucy?" Dad asked in concern and the flood gates finally came crashing open.

"I've been Marked!" I cried, completely breaking down in tears "Dad, I need you to help me!"

"I'm on my way," he said quickly "where are you?"

"Near the news agents shop by my school," I said shakily and felt relieved when Dad assured me he was on his way.

When I hung up, the air around me changed and it felt like there was an electric current moving through the atmosphere. The wind blew my hair wildly around my face and I felt eyes suddenly become heavy and I struggled to keep them open…

What was going on?

_Have no fear, Daughter._

I looked around in alarm, sure I'd heard a woman speaking and seeing that there was no one on the street apart from me. Her voice had sounded so real, a soft musical voice filled with a mother's love and trust.

"Who was that?" I asked quietly and the musical voice laughed softly.

_Someone you know very well, but you do not know it._

I wrapped my arms around my chest and tried to protect myself from the coldness, but somewhere I knew that this woman meant no harm and I felt safe.

What do you want? I asked in my head, I didn't want people to think I was crazy.

_You are destined to save vampyre and humankind, there is a Darkness that has plans to destroy everything good and you are the only one who can stop it… you are my second daughter that I will gift with the tools you'll need to fight this evil._

I sat there stunned, not knowing what to say or do. Was I going crazy?

I think you have the wrong girl, I told the woman but the woman laughed softly again.

_I choose my children wisely and you my daughter are certainly the right girl, I have faith in you and you must have faith in yourself._

But what the hell could I do? I'm not special! The only thing I've ever done to be proud of is play Maria in a community theatre production of _West Side Story_!

_Yes you are my child and I know this because you don't know it yourself._

Suddenly there was a flash of bright light and the most beautiful woman stood in front of me, wearing a long white dress and her jet black hair fell to her waist. She was probably the definition of natural beauty and she smiled at me with a look that was so motherly and filled with love it hurt to look at.

She cupped my face in her hand and placed a gentle kiss on my forehead, whispering softly.

_Believe in yourself, Lucy… I will always believe in you, my child._

And everything went black.

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**Author's Note: Okay, Lucy moves to the House of Night in the next chapter and this is where I'll really need OCs submissions for anyone who is interested in giving me a character to write (you can find all the information and the OC form at the end of Chapter One)**

**Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed, let me know what you think.**

**Also, the next fanfic I will be updating will be _Teen Wolf - Imprinted_, which is coming to it's conclusion really soon and I'm already planning it's sequel.**

**Finally, this is the last day to cast your votes on the poll on my profile, we're still at a tie and it would be great to have a definite winning pair for the future fanfic... so get voting guys! :)**

**Thanks**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

_Lucy_

My head was hurting like hell, as if I had some massive hangover that wouldn't go away and I was vaguely aware that I was lying on a bed that was way too soft to be my own. What the hell happened? The last thing I remember was being Marked (which still sucks) and I heard some weird woman's voice about how I'm "destined" to save the world - yeah, like that could be me?

I dimly heard voices, but I was too weak to do anything and I just laid there and listened.

"This is so unusual."

"Has this ever happened before?"

"Only once, in America and that fledging was exceptionally gifted… she could control all the elements."

"Does that mean-?"

"I have no idea, but her Mark is definitely filled in."

My eyes flew open and I sat bolt upright, looking wildly around and saw my Dad sitting beside my bed and I suddenly realised I was sitting in a nurse's room that looked more like the Hospital Wing in the _Harry Potter_ films - stone walls, perfectly clean single beds and flamed torches that were very dimly lit. I looked back to my Dad, his face full of concern and my heart nearly jumped in my throat.

What did that guy say about my Mark? It was fucking filled in?!

"Lucy, are you okay?" Dad asked seriously, but I shook my head and made to get out of bed and was stopped by a strong pair of hands. I looked up into a pair of black eyes and the most handsome face in the history of… ever.

"Rest, child." the sex god (I shouldn't really be thinking like that when my father was in the same room) said calmly.

His face looked as though it was carved by angels with perfectly olive skin, his black hair cut to a buzz haircut and his muscular physique was clearly visible under his tight black shirt. He looked like he was in his early thirties and his vampyre mark was a dark blue pattern of a forest clearing and a wolf howling at his crescent moon on his forehead.

"Lucy, I am Professor Erich," Professor Erich introduced himself, looking at me with a kind expression "you're at the House of Night."

I kind of gathered that.

"What happened to my Mark?" I asked warily and the Professor handed me a mirror, where I saw my crescent moon Marked filled in and my green eyes widened in horror. Holy shit! This wasn't supposed to happen, my Mark was supposed to be filled in after four years when I complete the change and then I get adult vamp tattoos. Okay… no adult vamp tattoos, so I'm still a fledging but that still doesn't explain why my Mark was filled in and I looked at Professor Erich in confusion.

"Why is it filled in?" I asked in a fearful whisper "is there something wrong with me?"  
Dad chose that moment to pipe up, looking at me with serious eyes.

"Of course not, Lucy" Dad said firmly and Professor E nodded.

"This is just a rare case." Professor E said as I fought the urge to roll my eyes (rare case, my arse! That was code word for: "We don't know what's wrong with you" or "It's something serious, but we don't want to worry you") and a tall beautiful Native American woman strolled in, her dark robes and adult vamp tattoos in the shape of a night sky completely capturing my attention. She definitely knew how to make an entrance.

"Welcome, daughter" the woman said in a motherly voice, walking over and pulling into a hug "I'm Professor Sky, High Priestess of this House of Night. I see you've already met your mentor, our Drama teacher Professor Erich and this must be Mr Cullen."

As Professor Sky and Dad shook hands in total vamp style (grasping each other's forearms), I was too aware of the sudden angry glare that appeared on Professor E's face as he saw Professor Sky that vanished quickly when she turned around and a part of me considered his look of anger could've been my imagination - I mean I haven't eaten and I've been unconscious for hours.

"Dorian, I completely understand you will want to question your new student about her Mark," Professor Sky said in a voice full of authority "but this girl should not be made to feel like she is being interrogated and I wish to have her get used to her new status and life before you question her, do you understand?"

Professor E gave a small nod and gave me a genuine total-sexy-heartthrob smile, but the fact that he was my new teacher killed the sexiness and my short lived crush had pretty much died (I'm not really into the whole crushing on an older teacher thing).

Ten points to new head teacher for not putting me through one-hundred-and-twenty questions! Already, I knew she'll be awesome.

"Right Lucy," Professor Sky said kindly as she helped me stand from the bed "once you say your goodbyes to your father, I'll show you to your dormitory and introduce you to your roommate."

Dad looked at me with tearful eyes and pulled me into a hug, which I quickly returned as the tears fell freely down my face. Usually a fledging is meant to cut off all ties with their human life, but the thought of not being able to see Dad or Jamie broke my heart into a million pieces and I knew I wouldn't be able to do it.

"If you need to talk to me, just call." I told Dad through my tears and Dad gave a shaky laugh.

"I'm meant to be saying that to you, kid" Dad chuckled as he held me close "I love you, Lucy. No matter what."

"Love you too." I whispered as I silently broke down in tears as my Dad shushed me and said comforting words. I didn't want this! I didn't want to leave my family and everything I knew behind, but I already knew that decision had been decided for me. So using all my emotional will-power, I let go of Dad and followed Professor Sky out of the room and into the large grounds.

Night had fallen already (I think I read somewhere that vamps didn't react well to sunlight - they didn't sparkle like they did in _Twilight_ or burn like they did in _The Vampire Diaries_, but it did make them feel sick and tired). Even by looking at the scenery, I knew this was an incredible place to live: the beautiful grounds was surrounded by a high wall and I caught my first glimpse of my knew school, it's high cathedral and medieval castle structure made me mentally think of Hogwarts (Okay, you guys have kind of gathered that as well as an aspiring actress, I'm also a serious bookworm!). Professor Sky lead me into a smaller building, where we walked into a large living room area that was filled with girls chatting, watching TV or doing homework in small groups.

Girls greeted Professor Sky cheerfully and stared at me like I was E.T., but thankfully Professor Sky didn't draw attention to my Mark and lead me up the staircase and into a corridor lined with doors with numbers on them.

"This will be your room and I think your roommate is here now," Professor Sky said with a bright smile, showing me Room 18 and she knocked softly on the door "Catherine?"

After a few seconds the door opened and a girl the same age as me opened the door and smiled at us cheerfully. Catherine was really pretty in a natural way: Her hair was long and dark brown and fell to her shoulders, her eyes were a bright blue and she was wearing dark jeans and a TEAM JACOB T-shirt (hey, a fellow Twi-hard fan… this might not be so bad after all).

"Catherine, this is Lucy who will be your new roommate," Professor Sky introduced us merrily "Lucy, this is Catherine Hanson."

"Hiya, it's nice to meet you." Catherine grinned, shaking my hand and I felt myself relax as I gave a more natural smile. I'm glad this girl was completely normal and not a vamp obsessed emo or goth, which was something that I had sort of been dreading.

"Likewise," I said casually and Professor Sky beamed.

"Right, I shall leave you girls to it." she said before walking away and leaving us alone.

"Do you wanna come in?" Catherine asked and I nodded, so she stepped aside and I followed her into the room we'd both hopefully be sharing for the next four years.

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**Author's Note: Hey guys, thanks for reading and a review would be awesome and much appreciated. Okay, I've decided to make a list of potential OCs I will need for this fanfic - I would really like to try writing characters that aren't canon or my own and these are the characters I'm looking for:**

**A male love interest for Lucy, who will be skilled in combat.**

**A fledging with an air affinity.**

**A fledging with a fire affinity - THIS OC HAS BEEN SUBMITTED**

**A fledging with an earth affinity - THIS OC HAS BEEN SUBMITTED**

**(My OC Catherine will have the affinity for water)**

**And a rival for Lucy, who will be the antagonist for this story and may become a useful ally in later chapters - who will also be very gifted (you can decide what that gift will be).**

**I'll post the next chapter once I have the OC submissions for these characters - all the information for submitting a character is at the end of Chapter One.**

**Thanks again for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Hey guys, I'd just like to start this chapter by giving a shout out to three people :)**

**Thanks to Em Gi, for submitting the two new characters Lita (who will be our character with an Earth Affinity) and Professor Sylvia (A Foreign Language teacher that has a dark past… no spoilers though, MAHAHAHA! Lol) and also leaving a helpful review - I've corrected all the type errors on the previous chapters.**

**Thanks to BLACKwriterForever for submitting new character Morrigan (who will be our character with a Fire Affinity and I've got an awesome storyline planned for her as well as Lita).**

**And finally, thanks to krikanalo who has always reviewed a chapter.**

**Okay, this will officially be the last time anyone can submit a new character to add into my story and after that the characters will be strictly my OCs.**

**NOTE: Vanessa is my new OC and will be Lucy's rival, but she's a bitch for a reason - I think those characters are great to read (and write) which is probably why I absolutely LOVE Katherine from _The Vampire Diaries _(TEAM KATHERINE ALL THE WAY! Elena has kind of got on my nerves since watching season 4 and I'm getting a little bored of the Stelena and Delena love triangle... it's still a great show, but I think Elena needs a new love interest that is NOT a Salvatore and find herself again because I miss the sweet and selfless Elena)**

**Okay, back to _House of Night _and start the next chapter, so enjoy and leave a review to give feedback :)**

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**Chapter Four**

_Lucy_

My new dorm bedroom looked weirdly like I'd already lived in here for a while - my books (which mainly consists of teen supernatural romances) were piled on a bookshelf near my new bed and I even recognised a few of my favourite films among them _Les Mis, West Side Story, Dirty Dancing _and _Now Is Good _were just a few of the films I absolutely adored. I turned to my new roommate Catherine, looking at her with a confused face… how had my stuff got here?

"Your Dad brought your stuff while you were in the hospital room," Catherine explained, sitting on her bed with a friendly smile "are you feeling okay? Apparently they found you unconscious on a bench."

Oh God, how embarrassing.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" I assured her and sat on my new bed and felt awkward, wondering when she was going to ask the obvious question.

Surprisingly she didn't and went onto a completely normal subject.

"So, how are you finding the House of Night?" Catherine asked casually, not staring at my weirdo filled in Mark and looking like I wasn't a freak among vamps "I know it looks like some creepy, medieval horror film but it's actually pretty cool and it's basically like any other school."

"No it's okay…" I said uncomfortably and Catherine's expression changed briefly to concern "are you seriously not going to ask about my Mark?"

Catherine smiled kindly at me, brushing her hair behind her ears and shook her head.

"I did notice it, but I just sort of guessed you wouldn't wanna talk about it," Catherine said honestly and I found myself liking my new roommate even more, I'd only know her five minutes and she was already the sweetest person I'd ever met "it's really uncommon, but it happened to someone else like a few years ago… her name's Zoey Redbird and she's a really powerful High Priestess."

Good for her, Zoey can save the world and I can just focus on trying ti get through the Change without dying. That reminded me of that mysterious woman who had given me this Mark in the first place, I even debated whether to tell Catherine. No, not yet… I need to know I can trust her before that, but it looks like I probably could.

"Well, I just want to get through life being normal," I said instead and Catherine giggled.

"I hear that, but if you wanna talk about anything…" Catherine began, but there was a sudden knocking on the door and a girl's voice that was strongly hinted with an Indian accent called:

"Cathy!"

Catherine pushed herself off her bed and opened the door, revealing an Indian girl that looked eighteen standing in the doorway her jet black hair that fell to her lower back.

"Lunch is in ten minutes and I'm hungry," the girl said in annoyance, but she rolled her eyes in complete exasperation when she saw Catherine's T-shirt "I thought I told you to burn that thing?"

"Hey, I love _Twilight_," Catherine defended as she frowned at the girl and the Indian girl scoffed at that "I read the books and Jacob Black is every girl's dream guy, Edward's too pale."

Edward isn't pale! Okay, I'm clearly Team Edward. Bite me, no pun intended.

"You are a true fan, but your fellow Twi-Hard fans need a fucking reality check and Jacob Black isn't that…" the girl began, but she stopped when she noticed me and looked at Catherine is confusion "Cathy, who is this?"

"My new roommate, Lucy Cullen." Catherine introduced us and allowed the girl inside the room "Lucy, this is Lolita, but we all call her Lita."

Lita smiled friendly at me and shook my hand and I stood up, but quickly realised this girl was taller than me by seven inches.

Lita was really attractive and made me feel self-conscious, with her full lips and warm chocolate brown eyes. Her creamy light brown skin complimented her and made her more beautiful in a natural way, so this girl clearly never needed to wear make up. I noticed a small bump on her nose that didn't distract from her beautiful features and she was wearing a blue Sari which was a very traditional Indian outfit and looked great on her.

"Nice to… what's with your Mark?" Lita asked, not in a rude way but it still made me feel embarrassed and my smile falter. Which she noticed and quickly tried to amend what she said "I'm so sorry! I just… I mean-"

"When Lucy wants to tell us, she will" Catherine said simply, coming to my rescue quickly and I sighed with relief "but until then, we don't make a big deal about it and just be a friend to her.

Lita nodded and gave me another small apologetic smile.

"I am really sorry," she said sincerely, but I shook my head and smiled reassuringly at her.

"Don't worry about it," I told her "I've just had a rough day."

"Well, that's why we're here," Catherine told me with a grin and grabbed my hand, pulling me out the door with Lita following behind "come on, let's get some food."

We walked down the long corridors and students obviously stared at my new Mark, but I felt much safer with Catherine and Lita by my side.

"So Lu-Lu," Lita asked politely and I chuckled at my new nickname, she clearly liked to give people their own name that she only used and I found it more sweet than annoying "you know what classes you're taking?"

"Err…" I said awkwardly as we began our descend down a spiral stairwell, trying to remember if Professor Sky or Professor Erich had mentioned anything about a timetable and coming up blank "I haven't got my timetable yet."

"Oh bugger!" Catherine exclaimed, slapping her hand onto her forehead and quickly pulled a crumpled piece of paper from the back pocket of her jeans. I was still amazed that I'd just heard a seventeen year old teenage girl say bugger (I thought that saying died in the 1950s?) as Catherine handed me the paper "I completely forgot to give you this, sorry."

"You have the memory of a goldfish sometimes." Lita chuckled as we walked into a large dinning hall that was filled with students. Nearly every table was filled with students chatting and gossiping, but the large table in the centre of the room had a large bowl of fruit that was sitting next to a large glass of red wine.

"That's Nyx's table, it is set with food and drink because…" Lita began, but her words came to a halt as fear entered her eyes and a silver haired woman stopped us in our tracks.

Her features were young, but her silvery hair that fell past her waist and her deep eyes showed that she had lived a long life. Her red dress hugged her curves and she wore a black cardigan with the outline of a woman cupping a crescent moon embodied on her chest.

"Greetings young Lucy, I see Catherine and Lolita are showing you around the campus," the woman said kindly in her very posh British accent "it is always lovely to see friendships blooming in this school, absolutely adorable. I am Professor Sylvia and I will be your tutor in Foreign Languages, I am also Lolita's mentor."

I chanced a quick glance at the two girls beside me: Catherine seemed her usual happy self, but Lita was rooted to the spot with what was clearly fear and she was trying hard not to show it. I knew it had something to do with this Professor, but how could a tough girl like Lita be afraid of such a sweet woman? Maybe I was overanalysing again and Lita was just worried because she'd missed an assignment deadline or something, that was most likely it.

"It's great to meet you too, Professor." I said politely shaking hands with the Professor in vampyre style and giving a small smile, while trying to keep any unwanted attention away from Lita and get to a lunch table ASAP. I doubted this woman was a bunny boiler, but Lita's fear was so obvious and I couldn't believe I was the only one who noticed.

"I'll be seeing you and Catherine in my next class," Professor Sylvia told me brightly, before turning to Lita and smiling a little too sweetly at her and it looked like a very forced thing to do " Lolita, are your family coming to the Parent Teacher Meeting tonight?"

"No." Lita sid shortly, the anger clear in her voice and Professor Sylvia suddenly looked stricken as if she had just realised she'd said something she shouldn't have.

"Oh that's right," Professor Sylvia said guiltily and I could see Catherine looking at Lita's fierce expression with concern "that's still a touchy subject, I'm so sorry sweetheart. If there's anything I could do, just let me know."

Professor Sylvia walked away, but Lita stood silent with her hands curled into fists and tears brimming in her eyes. Catherine turned to give Lita a one armed hug, but Lita shrugged her off, shaking her head and wiping tears from her eyes.

"Lita…" Catherine began, but Lita bolted for the door and when I caught a glimpse of her face as she left the room… her eyes were flooding with fresh tears.

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**Author's Note: I was planning on introducing Vanessa and Morrigan in this chapter, but I decided that it would be better to do that in the next chapter - so get ready to see more new faces :)**

**Thanks again for reading and don't forget to review ;)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: Hey guys, I'm back and I'm so sorry I haven't updated this fic at all but I've been buried in coursework and I finally have the time to write - You have Em Gi and Stormy Feather to thank though (they gave me the kick up the butt I needed to get back to writing this story lol)**

**Final OCs have been submitted and here they are:**

**Thanks to Stormy Feather for sending in Salene (new fledgng with an Air affinity with other powers and a VERY interesting past - which will be revealed as the story progresses)**

**Thanks to Devilish JoJo for sending in Tobias (a warrior vampyre) and his sister Angel (a vampyre healer) these two will be members of staff at the London House of Night and will make their first appearance in the next few chapters.**

**From here on out, anymore OCs will be my own.**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter.**

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**Chapter Five**

_Lucy_

Okay… this is a little awkward. Catherine looked half tempted to go after Lita, but she shook her head sadly and tried to give me a bright smile.

"Right, um… food?" Catherine muttered awkwardly, leading me like I was a lost puppy to the food isle.

"If you wanna go and see if Lita is alright, that's cool with me." I said honestly, pilling my plate with spaghetti (hey, I've had a rough day and this girl needs a decent meal.) "I'll be cool."

I didn't mind sitting by myself, but seeing as everyone was staring at me like I was an alien it would be nice to be with a few people and at the same time I didn't want Catherine not to comfort her BBF because of the awkward new girl with the weird Mark.

"I'll let her calm down first," Catherine said, still looking troubled as she picked up her plate of food and lead me to a table "Lita's family stuff is a sensitive topic and while she's upset, she prefers to be alone."

Yeah, families can be pretty complicated - I mean, look at mine. My parents got divorced after my dad caught my mum shagging his best mate, Jamie came out as being gay two years ago (Dad was actually cool with it, but Mum went mental, but he's still one of the lads and even plays for the local rugby team) and now Jamie's at university and in a relationship with Dwayne (a really, really HOT guy and Jamie is totally in love which is so sweet) and me… well I'm the newly Marked fledging… God, we should be on _the Jeremy Kyle Show_.

The table we walked over to had two girls already sitting at it and Catherine cheerfully introduced us.

"Girls, this is Lucy," Catherine said brightly, sitting down and I took the seat beside her "Lucy, this is Morrigan and Selene."

Morrigan was an average looking girl, her tanned skin and short jet black hair made her look tough but her light brown eyes were very feminine and she had her short red T-shirt, black jeans and sneakers showed she had good fashion sense - she was clearly mixed race from her skin tone, but if I had to guess she was most likely of African and maybe Caucasian heritage.

Salene was really pretty, her light brown complexion gave the impression that she was of Native American decent and her straight hair was a the colour of a raven's feather and fell to her shoulders. Her eyes were amber, but they had a little bit of green in them and she looked like a really sweet girl.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you." Salene said happily and beamed at me, her eyes merely glancing at the Mark on my forehead and she wasn't staring at me like I was a freak. Morrigan was a different story.

"What the fuck is up with that Mark?" Morrigan asked in her strong American accent, looking at my Mark in shock and Catherine shot a look of daggers at her, giving her a "SHUT UP NOW" look. I had no idea what to say

"Morrigan-" Salene warned, her glare equally as annoyed as Catherine's.

"I'm just asking the girl a question," Morrigan said with raised eyebrows and I found her attitude was really starting to piss me off "can't the girl speak for herself?"

"Yes, she can," I said firmly and frowned at Morrigan who looked surprised that I'd spoken up "look, my Mark being filled in is my business and no one else's."

Morrigan looked even more surprised that I was sticking up for myself, but Salene jumped in to the conversation.

"If Lucy wants to talk about it, she will." Salene said sternly.

"Yeah, she needs to feel welcome and treated like everyone else." Catherine concluded in a serious voice "and I'm going to-"

"Calm your British white girl ass," Morrigan said and her face broke into a grin "I was seeing if blondie could handle herself and she can, so she's cool with me."

I grinned as Ctaherine rolled her eyes in exasperation and the not in my stomach had started to loosen, maybe I could be accepted at this school just for being me and not because I looked like the Chosen One from some crappy _Star Wars _movie.

"I grew up in London, the rough part." I said with an even look and Morrigan's grin grew wider.

"Ghetto girl too, I know we're gonna get on." Morrigan chuckled, but Salene looked around the canteen in confusion.

"Where is Lita?" Salene asked.

"Professor Sylvia," Catherine answered grimly "she brought up Lita's mum and dad and it upset her."

"Bitch!" Morrigan muttered and Salene shot her a look and Morrigan frowned at her "don't look at me like that, I always said that woman was…"

Her voice faltered as she turned and looked over my shoulder, her face becoming a scowl.

"Piss off, Vanessa."

I turned to see an olive skinned girl with curly long brown hair and dark brown eyes. She was definitely nineteen and her designer clothes said she was rich, like SERIOUSLY rich.

Vanessa glared at Morrigan, her hand on her hip and tossed her hair over her shoulder.

"You know manners go down great in this country." Vanessa said shortly, before turning to me "you the new girl?"

"Clearly." I answered simply and Vanessa raised an eyebrow, before glaring at me.

"Let me clue you in, I don't know what the deal is with you and that Mark but you ain't special." Vanessa said bitterly and I felt myself boiling up with anger "this is my school, you got that?"

I stared at her in disbelief. This girl sounded more like one of those bitches in the _Mean Girls _movie and I seriously had to bite my tongue - there's no way I was getting in a fight on my first day, no matter who this bitch was.

"Vanessa, if you're just gonna be rude, then just get lost." Catherine said angrily and Vanessa scoffed at her.

"You're right, I don't have time to waste on you losers." Vanessa gave me one last glared and strutted off like she was on a cat walk.

"Now there's a bitch," Morrigan hissed angrily and Catherine sighed, but nodded in agreement.

Later that night, I sat up in bed and was unable to sleep. Catherine had gone to check on Lita, so I pulled out my phone from my hoodie on the floor and saw a text from Kate.

_Kate: OMFG! Lucy, what the hell?!_

Typical, Kate was freaking out and I quickly replied to calm her down.

_Me: I was marked, you saw it and now I'm stuck at the HoN._

_Kate's reply came minutes later._

_Kate: I was worried_

_Me: I'm fine, it's you I'm worried about._

_Kate: ?_

_Me: This thing with Reece, you better not get back with him. That guy is the defo of "dickhead"_

_Kate: I know… trust me that's over._

_Me: You deserve better than him._

_Kate: Glad you're still my BBF 3_

_Me: always, anytime you need me, I'm there… pinky swear._

_Kate: Good luck with your first day tomorrow - luv ya!_

Yeah, I was definitely going to need luck.

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